Research Topics

Below, please find links to papers and websites that discuss the latest issues of world development. The work below will help you answer questions like:
How can we improve the quality of education in developing countries?
Does privatization help or hurt people?
What are the limitations of NGOs?
Are companies in developing countries "credit constrained" (not able to borrow enough)?
How important is specialization of labor and trade to development?

The topics discussed below include:
Child Labor
Education
Measuring Social Value
NGOs
Environment
Development Economics
Research Contributors
Links

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Child Labor

Fitzsimons, Emla. The Effects of Risk on Education and Child Labor. Institute of Fiscal Studies. 2002.

In this paper, Dr. Fitzsimons uses data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey to find that child labor is used as a form of insurance against adverse shocks. For example, a family that expects to have a bad harvest--or a family that has experienced a bad harvest--will withdraw their child from school and send him or her to work. Dr. Fitzsimons finds that child labor is used to mitigate against aggregate (village-specific) risk rather than idiosyncratic (family-specific) risk.

Policy Implication: Credit markets in rural areas should be strengthened so families can insure themselves against bad harvests (aggregate risks) by: saving money, borrowing money, and/or buying insurance.

Basu, K. and P.H Wan (1998): "The Economics of Child Labor", American Economic Review, 88.

In this paper, the authors explore the effects of a ban on child labor. They use a model with multiple equilibria to show that a ban (assuming it can be enforced) will work only in high-productivity countries. In these countries, the ban will shift the economy from a low-wage-child-labor equilibrium to a high-wage-no-child-labor equilibrium. In low productivity countries, however, the ban will only result in a low-wage-no-child-labor equilibrium which will reduce the welfare of poor households.

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Education
What ever happened to "Quality Not Quantity?"

Title:

Improving Primary Education in Kenya: A Randomized Evaluation of Different Policy Options World Bank, December 31, 2001

Title:	Improving the Quality of Preschool Education in Kenya World Bank, December 12, 1999
Topic:	Education Labor & Employment

World Bank Case Studies: Teacher Supply, Training and Professional Development: Link
"Beirut and Belfast: Two Deeply Divided Cities, their Schools and Post-War Integration" A social investigation by Ari Alexander. Click Here.
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
Korea National Open University: Link

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Measuring Social Value
Measuring social value is tricky. At Foreignaid.net we know social value when we see it. We are continuously expanding and revising our Social Return on Investment (SROI) Model to allow us to select the best NGOs around the world to participate in Foreignaid.net. To learn more about our Ratings & Rankings based on this SROI model, click here. If you are an NGO seeking funding, please click here.

Other links:
The Robert Enterprise Development Fund's OASIS project on Measuring Social Impact. click here.

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NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations)

The Operational Environment and Constraints for NGOs in Kenya: Strategies for Good Policy and Practice
by Dr. Patricia Kameri-Mbote

Kenya: Why We Can't Do without NGOs Just Yet. The Sunday Nation. (During the Moi Administration)

The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) -- Mainly USA focus

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Environment

Law, Colonialism, and Environmental Management in Africa
by Annie Patricia Kameri-Mbote and Philippe Cullet

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Development Economics

"Distributive Impact of Privatization in Latin America: An Overview of Evidence from Four Countries," Mookerjee, D. and McKenzie, David. Sept 2002.

Land Tenure, Incentives and the Choice of Production Techniques in Rural Nicaragua.   Bandiera, O. NOVEMBER 2002, Programme for the Study of Economic Organisation and Public Policy, STICERD, LSE.

The (mis)allocation of capital
Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Kaivan Munshi, September 2002

Do Firms Want to Borrow More? Testing Credit Constraints Using a Directed Lending Program
Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, May 2002

King-Levine Data Set: Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Growth: Theory and Evidence. click here.

Professor Michael Kremer's Papers on the Web: Education and Vaccinations. click here

Questions for your Consideration (QFYC's):

Free Trade
-What are the pros and cons of free trade for developing countries?
-What adjustments need to be made by nations amidst imperfect "free" trade?
-Does the infant industry theory hold?

Labor
-How long does it take for a nation to re-train and re-employ all its citizens to produce only the goods and service in which the nation has a comparative advantage?
-Is perfect free trade possible without labor mobility (e.g. with visa restrictions)?
-Should imports from abroad be charged a duty inversely proportional to the number of jobs they create domestically?
-Should Kenya's importing of Aquafresh tooth require America to increase its quota for visas for Kenyan nationals?

Capital
-What does it mean for a country to have no capital?
-What is the "cost of capital" in a country like Kenya? Debt 25-30%. Equity?
-How does a country decrease its cost of capital?
-Is development possible in light of political uncertainty (e.g. in light of a high cost of capital)?

Culture
-What does culture (e.g. the "Protestant/Kikuyu/Gujrati/Jewish Work Ethic") have to do with capitalism?

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Research Contributors

Dr. Mutahi Ngunyi, Founder, SAREAT

Dr. Patricia Mbote, Dir. of Research, ACTS

Pranav Gupta, Thouron Scholar, London Sch. of Economics

For a full list of contributors, please visit our Experts Department. To Submit your paper or editorial, please click here.

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Links

"Development and Growth" EC428 at the LSE
World Bank Working Papers
Gujrat Institute of Development Research
Econ 82 Links with Abstracts at Dartmouth

Foundations
Foundation Capital

Research Tools

LATINOBAROMETRO is a public opinion survey representing the opinions, attitudes, behaviour and values of the countries where it is applied.

Development Publications

Developments is a free quarterly magazine produced by the Department for International Development (UK) to increase awareness of development issues. To order your copy of free copy of Developments click here.

Starting Your Own Magazine: Best Practices: click here.